"to provide for Progressive Trust, you need to establish what is known as an "Intimacy Gradient"". From architect Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction:Pattern #127 - Intimacy Gradient:Conflict: Unless the spaces in a building are arranged in a sequence which corresponds to their…

Liberating Structures is a pattern language that "provides a menu of thirty-three Liberating Structures to replace or complement conventional practices... [which are] either too inhibiting (presentations, status reports and managed discussions) or too loose and disorganized (open discussions and brainstorms) to creatively engage people ... to…

Good starting point on pattern languages, ends with useful links.As a definition of what a pattern is: "a proven solution to a problem in a context. Each one documents a reusable solution, encapsulates knowledge about successful practices, and provides information about its usefulness and tradeoffs... Connected sets of interrelated patterns …